Vietnam
by hanafuda
Summary: Forrest recollects meeting his country and the one he fought against.


"There was this one fella who bunked next to me an' Bubba, and when Bubba wasn't talkin' shrimp, that fella was talkin' some crazy stuff."

 _"Man, a lot of crazy stuff has happened to me ever since I was born."_

 _"I feel that way, too. When were you born?"_

 _"1776."_

 _"I was born on June 6, 1944."_

 _"Oh. Wow. I remember that day. So what's up, dude?"_

 _"Not much, other than the ceiling."_

 _The man laughed._

 _"Yep, I need cool, positive guys like you in my army._

 _Name's America, by the way."_

 _"My name's Forrest, Forrest Gump. So you say your name's America. You're named after your country?"_

 _"I am the country."_

"Man, did I hear crazy stuff back in Vietnam.

Lieutenant Dan was always leading us around, stopping every few minutes or so if somethin' made a sound. And this America guy, he came from the United Kingdom, I think. Could be wrong. One day on patrol, it was real windy, the sky was dark, but we were having a good time. Things stopped being good real quick."

 _"Where's the damn air support?"_

 _"I heard it's right here, in Nantucket!"_

 _"There's a place called Nantucket in Vietnam?"_

 _"Uh, no-"_

 _Things exploded and were torn up everywhere around them. Forrest had his head low, and his eyes peeked out, barely visible from where the VCs were._

 _"An' I swear I saw a woman, runnin' amongst them, and at that point, I wanted to run, too."_

* * *

"Vietnam was… such a beautiful country, you know? I heard that other soldiers had been killin' their crops, and maybe even the civilians, but we never saw no dead stuff or villages. I would go out on walks, every once in a while, and I woul' walk by them rivers, them marshland, the sea, and i' was just beautiful. The forests were pretty peaceful, too, especially at night and when it wasn't raining. It made me sad whenever I saw the forests explode, and they exploded a whole lot while I was there."

* * *

 _All Vietnam knew was that she was frantically firing forward, worrying that the Americans were not actually retreating, but advancing. And all Forrest knew was that something had bit him while he was carrying Lieutenant Dan away._

* * *

"I hadn' realized how many people had been running with me, but one did catch the corner of my eye. We were near the sea, and this one woman in a green dress wearing a cone hat came running with us too. Lots of weird people cane running with me, people like her, but then I realized that she was the one who I had seen on the enemy line back in Vietnam."

 _When Forrest declared he was tired and shuffled through the crowd, he stopped near the end._

 _"Hey, were you in Vietnam?"_

 _"I am Vietnam."_

 _"Oh, really? That's funny. You know, during the war, I met a guy named America. Since when are people naming themselves after countries?"_

 _"Oh… I am the country. Of Vietnam."_

 _"Oh, so I was fighting you during the war! Well, I wanna say, you put up a good fight, and it was an honor fightin' against ya."_

 _He didn't see the slight regret in her eyes and reached his hand out._

 _"Oh…"_

 _He held it there for about ten minutes until Vietnam finally shook his hand. When she did, he finally smiled, a goofy smile that barely showed through his beard._

 _The runners watched back at him, in disbelief. One of them walked towards Vietnam and shook her still extended hand as well._

 _"He's right, Viet. You did put up a damn good fight."_

 _America…, she thought._

 _He turned back towards the bearded man walking away. "I love that guy."_

 _"I do too."_

 _"Thailand? You are here too?" she inquired._

 _"We both knew we had to see you, Vietnam, and we ran by you the entire side. You did not see us, ana~?"_

 _"No… I did not…"_

 _"Not a big deal. Love and hugs, Viet, ana~"_

 _"Thank you, Thailand."_

 _"Don't thank me. Thank America. He's the one who still cares about you, ana~."_

 _Thailand pushed the two together, pulling Vietnam's nón lá behind her back. America's and Vietnam's lips were soon involved in a high-speed accident, which turned into a passionate kiss which elicited applause from the other runners._

"An' I gotta say, that that there was one of the weirdest endings to a story I ever heard. Guess it was a happy one, though. I like happy endings."

* * *

 **A/N: I just finished watching Forrest Gump and got the best idea ever. I wonder if I managed to translate it well enough here. And America really does love his vets. And so does Thailand XD**


End file.
